Mom Welcomes Baby After Cancerous Tumor Threatened Their Lives. Now She’s Looking Forward to Their First Christmas at Home

An Illinois mom is grateful as she looks forward to celebrating her first Christmas with her son – months after doctors discovered a cancerous tumor and performed an emergency C-section to save their lives.

MaKenna Lauterbach of Washburn was 26 and expecting her first child in December 2023 when she developed a nagging cough, according to Northwestern Medicine.

At first, doctors were hesitant to scan Lauterbach’s chest. But it didn’t go away and by the 36th week of pregnancy she started throwing up while coughing.

She ended up going to the hospital, where doctors did scans that revealed “a large tumor the size of a grapefruit in the middle chest cavity and right lung.”

The tumor completely blocked an artery in Lauterbach’s right lung, meaning neither she nor her baby were getting adequate amounts of oxygen, Northwestern Medicine said.

MaKenna Lauterbach with her newborn son Colter.

Courtesy of Northwestern Medicine

Lauterbach was then transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where she was treated by a large team of doctors in the intensive care unit.

After noticing that MaKenna’s blood pressure was rising and she was having contractions, doctors realized that mom and baby were not doing well. Dr. Lynn Yee, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Northwestern Medicine, said doctors “had to act quickly” to save the couple.

On March 31, 2024 — which also happened to be Easter Sunday — Yee performed an emergency C-section on Lauterbach, giving birth to her baby boy, Colter.

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Newborn Colter.

Courtesy of Northwestern Medicine

Doctors later diagnosed MaKenna with stage three melanoma, according to Northwestern Medicine. “The tumor was sitting on top of McKenna’s heart and had spread to her right lung,” said Dr. Kalvin Lung, who helped remove growths during surgery.

The mother from Illinois had her entire right lung removed, as well as parts of the main pulmonary artery and lymph nodes.

Doctors believe MaKenna likely had melanoma on her skin before the tumor developed in her body.

A baby born weighing less than 1 lb. She returns home after 9 months in intensive care: ‘I’m very grateful,’ says mom

MaKenna and Parker Lauterbach with their son Colter.

Courtesy of Northwestern Medicine

Her current tests “show no evidence of metastatic melanoma,” according to Dr. Sunandana Chandra, a medical oncologist at the hospital’s Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“On the medical side, this is an amazing story with profound results,” Chandra said. “This type of outcome for our patients is what we always hope for.”

dr. Chris Mehta, a heart surgeon at Northwestern Medicine, said tumors that invade the heart’s major blood vessels are “extremely rare,” adding, “We see something like this every few years.”

A micro preemie is born weighing less than 2 pounds. She will soon be the intensive care nurse who saved her life

Colter meets Santa in December 2024.

Courtesy of Northwestern Medicine

Lauterbach is grateful to the doctors and the treatment she received from them. “I’m here today because of Northwestern Medicine,” she explained, later adding, “I can’t say enough about the wonderful medical team that saved my life. ”

The Illinois mom and her husband Parker are now celebrating her first Christmas on their farm with little Colter, who Lauterbach described as “the best baby.”

“I’m so grateful to have Colter and Parker in my life,” she remarked.

“It brings tears to my eyes to see MaKenna doing so well, and to see Colter progress is amazing,” added Dr. Yeah. “It just goes to show that when you have all the right medical teams, you can really help families thrive.”

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Source: HIS Education